


Anything Goes

by NickieMoot



Series: But Now, Heaven Knows [1]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Multi, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-07-24
Packaged: 2018-06-10 05:35:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6941953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NickieMoot/pseuds/NickieMoot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The rose tinted glasses had to come off eventually. It just happened to take a nuclear bomb dropping on Boston for Sophie to realize she was even wearing them.</p><p>This is the story of sole survivor Sophie, former vault dweller Harper, and the companions they make in the wasteland. Each chapter will introduce a new character and the tags will update accordingly. Slow burn but eventual romance including m/f and f/f/m. No smut in this fic, the mature rating is for violence and drug use.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sophie meets Codsworth

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is the only one that takes place prewar. I promise it isn't all sappy 50's hetero, it's played up on purpose here for ~character development~☆

The robot came partially assembled in its box. The limbs were removed and everything was tucked down neatly to make it all fit. Sophie read over the instructions while Nate pulled the robot out and placed the pieces on the concrete beneath their carport. The car was parked on the street so they could work in the shade, a necessity for Sophie's pale freckled skin. Nate's brown skin didn't burn so easily but he was grateful to stay out of the heat of the late summer sun.

Sophie pushed her glasses up with one finger on the nosepiece. “It says we need to add fuel because they drain the tank before shipping it. Oh, it also says to turn it on before assembling the limbs to prevent injury in the case of malfunction.”

Nate set the large bulbous body on the floor and huffed. “Sure, we don't want it to have weapons in case it decides to kill us.”

“Hush, it's not going to do that.” She slapped him lightly on the shoulder with the instructions booklet. “It's going to be fine, I don't know what you're so worried about.” Nate raised his hands in mock-surrender but didn't say anything else. They worked together to find and open the fuel hatch and fill it up with the Mr. Handy fuel that came with the robot. Sophie was tall and fit, easily as tall as her husband, but his hands were stronger and had callouses from his army service. There wasn't much manual labor in a law career. Nate balanced it on its jet, pressed the activation switch, and quickly stood back.

The robot whirred and clicked for a moment, then turned its jet on and boosted itself into the air. Its three eye-stalks opened up and, after looking around for a few seconds, locked on to the couple standing nearby. It bobbed in place and spoke with a cheerful British accent.

“Thank you for your purchase from General Atomics! Would you like to begin initial startup protocols? For your convenience, this process is done entirely with vocal commands and takes only a few minutes.”

Sophie couldn't help but smile at the robot. It was delightful already. “Yes, go ahead.”

“Wonderful! Who shall I register as the owner or owners of this unit?” They spent a few minutes answering the robot's questions, providing their names and occupations and calibrating a few vocal commands for it. Sophie did most of the talking and was quickly becoming enamored with the thing. Nate spent most of the exchange with his arms crossed but he seemed to be warming up. She knew his tells, could see the difference between when he was truly upset and when he was just being stubborn.

The robot continued on happily. “Thank you very much! There are only two items left. First, what sort of duties shall I be preforming? This can be changed at any time. I currently have pre-installed protocols for cleaning, gardening, cooking, book-keeping, child care, pet care, and defense.”

“Woah wait,” Nate cut in, looking a little startled. “Defense? What does that mean?”

“Mr. Handy robots are equipped with basic weapons and may be tasked with guarding a location. We are the superior choice for both businesses and home security!”

Nate looked at Sophie with a worried frown. She brought a hand up to rub between his shoulders. “Hey, it'll be fine. You remember what the salesman said about how safe these robots are.” She turned back to the patiently waiting robot. “We just need house-keeping and child care, please.”

“Very well! Lastly, would you like to give me a nickname or designation to respond to? This is entirely optional, but does help avoid confusion with future commands.”

Nate shrugged, still looking at Sophie and not the robot. “Maybe something butler-y? Since that's sort of what it is.”

Sophie nodded. “How about Codsworth?” Nate shrugged again. “Alright, Mr. Helpful, I'm naming him Codsworth.”

The robot bobbed deeply in a faux bow. “Codsworth it is then, at your service! Congratulations and thank you again from General Atomics! Please install my limbs and I shall get to work straight away!”

In the following weeks they learned to live with their robot butler and found him to be well worth every dollar they spent on him. He did all the housework and gardening by himself, and was a fairly decent cook. He was exceptional with their newborn child, who was only six months old when they bought the robot. Nate finally began to relax about letting a robot into their home and near their baby. It allowed them to have breathing room in their life. Sophie could go to work at the law office without worrying about Nate being alone with Shaun. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, he was a wonderful father and he loved their baby with every fiber of his being. But she worried about how withdrawn he's been since coming back from the front lines. If he had an episode or a panic attack he wouldn't be completely alone, not with Codsworth there.

They lived happy and peaceful together. Nate's military benefits helped out and got them into the nearby vault, even if Sophie thought it was pointless. The war was so far away. Nate was just paranoid since being in Anchorage, he would calm down and relearn civilian life soon enough. Codsworth, always the optimist, gladly took her side whenever they discussed it. There was no need to worry. Everything was fine.

Everything was fine. Until the bombs came.


	2. Sophie Meets Dogmeat

When Sophie first saw the dog, she nearly fell to her knees and cried.

She was still shell-shocked by everything that happened in the last few hours. Her husband was dead, her baby was missing, and she had learned the truth behind Vault 111 and her unwilling part in their human experimentation. She had seen giant, grotesquely mutated insects and dying foliage. There was a human body and some kind of skinless dog thing by the bridge out of Sanctuary. The only other life she had found so far was Codsworth, still diligently trying to care for their ancient fallout-damaged house.

But then a beautiful German Shepard came trotting up to her from underneath the coolant station, ears forward and tail wagging. It didn't look mutated at all. It was just a normal dog, the first normal thing she had seen since waking up from the cryostasis. It was a little thin but it had a full coat of fur and was happily accepting pets from her. It wasn't a stray and that meant that there were people surviving out here. It was infinitely more comforting than the dead body by the bridge.

The dog barked and ran toward the road, stopping a few yards up to make sure Sophie was following him. She knew she needed to follow. Hopefully the dog was leading her to people, and hopefully those people could help her. It was the first time since waking up that she felt like she could do this, the first thing that didn't make her feel scared and off-kilter. She could survive out here, and she was going to find her baby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short one, I know. Things will start picking up soon.
> 
> Fallout blog: solesurvivorsophie.tumblr.com


	3. Sophie Meets Preston Garvey

By the time Sophie had escorted the settlers back to Sanctuary, the sun had nearly set and they were all exhausted. Sophie put the power armor and the minigun in the garage of the workshop across from her house- they weren't really hers, after all. Codsworth came over to assist her and introduce himself to the newcomers. Sophie wasn't really paying attention. Her hands were shaking and she felt light-headed. It took what little she had left in her to make it inside her own house before falling asleep on the couch.

In the morning Codsworth had a breakfast prepared for her, consisting of a dry bowl of sugarbombs, a glass of water, and a single mentat tablet. He apologized for the lack of milk or coffee but Sophie waved him off- the sugar and the pill were more than welcome. She would have to ask him later how much of her prescription was left. It didn't seem likely that pharmacies still existed, and there was a very real possibility she might be forced to survive and find her son un-medicated.

She asked Preston and the others about reaching Diamond City, like Mama Murphy suggested, and the answers were less than encouraging. It was at least a couple days walk, if you're lucky. Avoid Lexington and Cambridge, they're both home to large numbers of feral ghouls (she still didn't know what that meant). The downtown Boston area surrounding Diamond City is extremely dangerous and full of raiders and supermutants (whatever those were). Everyone's advice included either bringing a big gun, or hiring someone with a big gun.

She wasn't ready. It pained her, but she needed to stay and prepare. Running out into the wasteland and getting killed wasn't going to help Shaun.

Sturges kept her busy scavenging for him. She pulled out all of the scrap from her house first. Most of her and Nate's belongings were gone, and what was left was ruined anyway. But Sturges said he could repurpose the pieces. He pulled copper wiring out of the electronics and carefully sorted the screws and cleaned out any container with even an ounce of a useful substance. Preston helped her haul the larger pieces of the old wooden bed frame out and put them in the wood pile in front of the workshop. He was strong and sturdy but not any taller than Sophie, and she had more body fat. All of the settlers were slightly gaunt and sickly in Sophie's eyes.

As they rested against the wall for a moment afterward, Preston asked her, “So you haven't been out of the vault for very long, right?”

Sophie nodded. “This is my second day out here.”

“Why is that house your house, exactly?” He gestured across the street. “I mean why did you and your robot claim it right away? Codsworth gave Sturges an earful last night for 'trespassing' when he tried to look inside.”

“Oh.” She huffed a tired little laugh. “We never activated his defense programming, but he's still very protective. He's apparently been trying to take care of the house since the bombs fell.”

“So he's not from the vault? Kinda funny he calls you his mistress if you've only known him for a day.”

They gave each other puzzled looks until Sophie followed his train of thought. “Oh! No, no, I'm not from the vault either. We lived in that house before the war.”

“Before the... war?” He was still looking at her with confusion all over his face. A thought briefly occurred to her- she could lie. She doesn't have to open up to this man she just met. But he and the settlers were her first and so far only allies in this new world, and there was absolutely no reason to cover up what Vault-Tec did. Sophie took a deep breath and started to explain.

By the end of the day she had told everyone her story, and gotten to know them all a little better in return. Preston smiled often, but it was a sad smile that never reached his eyes. Mama Murphy believed in her visions, and believed it was her time to die soon. Jun was quiet and nervous and withdrawn, like Nate was when he returned from the front lines. Marcy was loud and angry and bitter. Sophie couldn't blame her, not after what they'd been through. Sturges seemed calm and happy as anyone could be, and it made Sophie wonder if he was really as okay as he acted.

She worried about all of them. She couldn't help it, these people were good and they deserved better than the shit hand life had dealt them. She spent three days making sure they were going to be alright, going from Sturge's building products to helping the Longs start up a vegetable farm to making sure Mama Murphy was safe and comfortable. Preston promoted her to General, which she accepted. She could be the general for one man and four civilians. He talked to her about getting more support, reaching out to nearby settlements, but that would have to wait as well. There was just so much to do.

Preston didn't seem to sleep much. He was almost always patrolling the perimeter with his laser musket, no matter what time it was. On the third night Sophie paused at her door to watch him. It was dark and the wind had a cold bite that threatened rain. The others had gone to bed or at least into their homes for shelter, but Preston had grabbed his musket and began walking toward the bridge. Sophie sighed and followed.

“Preston, you need to sleep.”

He stopped and turned to her with raised eyebrows as though he was surprised she was there. “I will, I'm just doing one last round.”

Sophie shook her head. Even without her lawyer experience, Preston was a lousy liar. “No, you're not. Codsworth says you've been staying up for hours, and waking up well before dawn. You need sleep.”

“I know, I just...” He glanced back over toward the bridge. “I can't. I'm too nervous. What if something happens and I can't defend these people?”

She understood the sentiment, but noted at the fact that he didn't seem to include himself in the category of people that needed defending. “You can't help anyone if you're collapsing from exhaustion either, Preston.”

He ducked his head a bit, looking sheepish. “I guess that's true. You sound like my mother or something.”

She smiled. “I can tell you bed time stories from before the war, if it helps.” To her relief he laughed and relaxed. It was only a little, just a bit of tension released from his shoulders, but she'd take it. “Listen, Codsworth doesn't sleep. He can keep an eye out, and I'll even tell him to wake you up first if anything is amiss.”

He gave her his sad, tired looking smile. “I'd appreciate that.”

“Good. Now come on, before it rains.”

The next day, she left for Diamond City. She felt comfortable enough (not a lot, but enough) in the well being of the settlers by then. They had made a well with a pump deep enough to reach clean water, places to sleep and Sturges was starting work on a defense system with a turret of some kind. She took a hunting rifle they had scavenged off the dead Concord raiders and the 10mm she found in the vault. She felt more confident with the range on the rifle. A few mismatched pieces of leather armor were strapped over her vault suit, and her bag held a tin of mentants and what little food and clean water they could spare. Dogmeat followed obediently, eager for adventure. The path marked on her pipboy map was long and looping, taking her through friendly settlements and around known danger. It was going to be a long, long trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter we switch to Harper, who gets to meet Maccready and Cait. It's a fun one. Sorry this chapter was so... melancholy. Turns out everyone dying is a sad subject, weird.
> 
> Fallout blog is at solesurvivorsophie.tumblr.com

**Author's Note:**

> Fallout sideblog is at http://solesurvivorsophie.tumblr.com


End file.
